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What are carnivorous plants?

Carnivorous plants are plants that receive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and eating insects, other arthropods, and sometimes small frogs and mammals. (They are sometimes called insectivorous plants because insects are the most common prey.) Like other plants, carnivorous plants need sunlight, soil, and water to grow.

Carnivorous plants generally grow in places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as bogs. Today, there are more than 600 plant species around the world that attract and trap prey, produce digestive enzymes, and absorb parts of the insect as its nutrients.